OK Phil you have the chair. How would you solve your (and her) frustrations? Pretend you are a Chrysler line worker and your pay is gonna get trimmed. How would you do it? You are a Chrysler executive. How will you save your workers economic lives and careers?
Dangerous to ask me to do this, but I've got a little time this morning and here are just a few ideas---
1. Ask EVERY organization out there to make getting out the vote of their consitutents their primary concern, and thereby let whatever the majority really is finally reflect its true desires in election results.
2. Work to create legislation that allows shareholders to have a stronger say on the levels and sources of executive incomes/benefits/perks with one goal (among others, perhaps) of returning the ratio of CEO compensation to skilled worker comp back to 1970 levels (which I believe were plenty generous enough.
3. I could only do the following if I were President, but I would use the office to LEAD, ie--- encourage people to vote for effective change in the areas of Education and Health Care.
4. While this one is shaky, I think I would reduce the term of President to one(!), so that one's legacy would be determined by what one accomplished rather than who one pleased. So much bull shit could be eliminated (IMHO) if leaders were not always worrying about the next election. Not sure yet what I would do about Congressional terms.
5. I would talk to Iran, and also understand that the world we live in is far different than what the current folks in power believe. To this extent, I would understand that we live in a global economy where we will have to share superpowerdom by necessity.
6. I would seperate Church and State
7. As to Iraq, I would admit the mistake but NOT leave piecemeal. While the war there in both its victories and defeats has become the greatest recruiting tool for terrorists the world has seen in many a moon, we are there and have done what we have done. I would defend our own entrenchment there while undertaking a transfer of responsibility in whatever way we still can. If the Sunnis and the Shiites want to kill each other, we have no business trying to stop that.
8. I would not give carte blanche to Israel, but understand that Iran will have an A-bomb in 2 years and will consider bombing the Israelis. Hence #5.
9. I would focus on our problems at home as opposed to problems abroad. That is a ridiculously general statement, but i make it anyway.
10. I would seek ways to rid ourselves of dependency on oil for once and for all.
11. I would NOT care that the above is childishly naive! I would NOT care if any of the above stepped on some interest group's toes! I would use the bully pulpit to champion educating all our citizens, making our economy a system that creates jobs and opportunities and making being a decent human being more attractive than being a thug.
In re-reading what I wrote above, I have had to laugh at how sophomoric it all sounds, but why not? Raggedy Andy for President! Where is Pogo when you need him? In general, what has to happen is a swing back from the "too far" we've gone to the Right, and return some degrees of governmental controls, higher taxes and protectionsist policies. I'm basically against these things, but we've just gone too far in their elimination from the standpoint of the good of our populace IMHO.
